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Now, usually I would start this thread out with some 'lulz', as is the tradition with our forum. However, due to the recent passing of Arthur Bertram Modell, I have chosen to break with tradition and do something a bit more tasteful this go-around.

Let's begin to imagine a world without Modell, a world in which football never came back to Baltimore. What would we do on Sundays? Who would we turn to? Where would our refuge be?

For me, personally, you know what got me through 15 long, painful years of sitting through the topsy-turvy roller coaster we call the Baltimore Orioles? Knowing that no matter how bad the Orioles sucked that day, week, or year, I still had the Ravens to turn to on Sunday come the fall.

I cannot possibly imagine growing up in a town without football; without seeing the color purple adorn the bodies of male and female alike across the great city of Baltimore on the evening prior to a game. I cannot fathom a point in time in which seething hate for the black and gold didn't run through my veins. I cannot begin to envision a reality in which a poster of Brian Billick holding up the Lombardi trophy wasn't pinned to the wall of my room for the past eleven years.

But let's branch out further from our individual selves, for as a fan of a franchise, you are merely part of a much greater collective. Thus in re-examining the life of Mr. Modell, one must take into account the principle of six degrees of separation. Where would the players be without Modell? Would we even know the name Ray Lewis? What about JO? Reed? Sizzle? Stover? The list goes on and on. The point is, would any of these guys be household names without said team in Baltimore? Maybe. But thanks to Art, we will never have to find out because they already are.

Let's even look past the players. What about the front office? Does Brian Billick ever get a head coaching job outside of Minnesota? If not in Ozzie, then whom do we place our trust? Would Mike Smith or any of the other twelve former Ravens assistants currently occupying head coaching jobs either in the NFL or at the NCAA's highest level ever get said opportunity? Who truly knows. But one thing is for certain, none of them would be in the position they are currently in without the team that gave them all their first big break, and that team wouldn't exist without Art's vision.

And you could continue this trend with the trainers, the towel boys, and any number of the personnel that obtained their jobs through the Ravens' organization. You could go so far as to say this applies to Joe Shmoe who sells water bottles outside the stadium, Billy Bob who owns a store devoted entirely to Ravens' merchandise, Peggy Sue who advertises half off Sundays at her bar in Canton, or any of the thousands of business owners brought to Baltimore through our beloved franchise.

It's easy to simply say "rest in peace" and "we lost a great man today", but that is truly an understatement. Chances are, you wouldn't be registered on this FOOTBALL forum without Art; you might not even care about the game without his contributions to it. Hell, for all we know, you might have even become a soccer fan...for shame. But no, you are here, reading this gameday thread of all things. And come game day, you will once again have the pleasure of going to the venue of your choosing, whether that be your house, the bar, or the stadium itself and kicking back and enjoying another amazing season brought to you by the purple and black. But this season, when you kick your feet up, pop open a Corona and recline in your chair, remember who granted you this one day of solace a week. Remember who it was that gave you the opportunity to root for such a wonderful franchise. Remember, remember the sixth of September.

So as the Raven's march out onto the field this Monday night, heavy hearts in toll, let them bear not the weight of the world on their shoulders by themselves. Remember, Arthur in some way, shape or form, affected us all. Whether in the stadium, in Baltimore, or thousands of miles away, cheer, cheer your heart out! For every pass, every run, every tackle let the Ravens know it matters. Let Art know that he didn't just build a franchise, he built a community, a family. Let the grieving members of the Modell family see it was not they alone who lost a father, but the game of football and its entire constituency. Let the world know Art made a difference. This Monday night, let Art get one last look at his legacy from beyond the grave. This Monday night, let's show what it TRULY means to live, act, and play like a Raven! This Monday night, let's win it for the man who started it all; let's win it for Arthur Bertram Modell.

R.I.P. Mr. Modell

_________________

bananabucket wrote:

Matts4313 wrote:

For years the argument has been, mostly, Peyton V Joe V Brady as the GOAT QB.

Flacco?

Last edited by RavensTillIDie on Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:50 pm; edited 1 time in total

Fantastic GDT man, enjoyed every bit of it. classy as usual and very heartfelt. I am pumped for this game and I can't wait for OUR team to win this for Art!

Onto other business....

johndeere1707 wrote:

Who Dey

Why don't have some respect man. One of our better posters on this forum makes a beautiful GDT and you are the first to comment with this garbage. Stick to your own forum and have some class._________________

Second off, wonderful post and definitely worth the wait. And speaking of wait, this game I am so ready for. Honestly I'm very interested to see how the passing attack does against the Bengals secondary... which has been a top 10 passing defense for years. And while they didn't look like they were at that level during preseason, neither did our passing defense.

I'm not expecting us to produce much of an exterior pass rush in this game either with the Bengals having two talented OTs and us having had issues with our pass rush beating guys 1on1 in the preseason. I think Ngata will have to be disruptive to really bring the defensive pressure to Andy Dalton.

There are a lot of variables in play, but I'm going to say this is more of a medium scoring affair. I'll say...

Oh and Torrey Smith against the Bengals secondary, unless Leon Hall is able to return quickly to his former self, I can't see that secondary being able to contain Torrey deep. Whereas on the otherside, while AJ Green is the more unstoppable player, he'll be guarded by Lardarius Webb, a top 5 CB in this league, and it's likely that he'll receive a lot of attention from our safeties as well. So it'll be much harder for him to produce than Smith.

This head to head Torrey Smith vs. AJ Green matchup is probably just what Torrey Smith will need to really propel him forward with the national audiences. If he produces big and Smith does not, the media will probably really start to give Smith hype going forward._________________

League source confirms that Michael Oher will start at left tackle Monday night

May as well commit to the youth movement! The Mckinnie situation makes loads more sense if this is true.

Whoa. This is huge news. If McKinnie wasn't salty before he might be a little now. So I guess the team felt that Williams was a better lineman than McKinnie because that's probably what it really comes down to. Oher and KO were getting on the field either way and Yanda/Birk were fixtures as well. So if it was the best 5, it had to be between those two._________________

League source confirms that Michael Oher will start at left tackle Monday night

May as well commit to the youth movement! The Mckinnie situation makes loads more sense if this is true.

Whoa. This is huge news. If McKinnie wasn't salty before he might be a little now. So I guess the team felt that Williams was a better lineman than McKinnie because that's probably what it really comes down to. Oher and KO were getting on the field either way and Yanda/Birk were fixtures as well. So if it was the best 5, it had to be between those two.

It's truly another sign that they are going all in with this no huddle offense. Oher and K.O. are more nimble and athletic than McKinnie, they are more physically equipped to handle the tempo of the no huddle offense. The no huddle offense allows Joe to get the ball out quicker therefore limiting the amount of time the Oline has to block (Oher at LT). McKinnie might be in solid football shape but not in up tempo no huddle offense shape. It's still good to have McKinnie around for depth.